There was a party going on this weekend at Cleland Park in Delta. Folks from around the region joined the fun for the second annual Pride event to support the LGBTQ community, allies, and families.
Pride in October was alive and well with expanded celebration events in Hotchkiss taking place Friday and Saturday night at Heritage Hall.
The big Pride day celebrations took place on Sunday afternoon at Cleland Park with dozens of booths, an Arabic food truck, and drag performances. This year's theme "We Do Exist" featured Sasquatch in pink heels.
While the event was filled with fun, it's also a time to remember that suicide continues to be a leading threat for the LGBTQ community. Pride events like the one in Delta are meant give hope to the hurting.
"We just want to make sure everybody knows. We just want to be here, we're not trying to indoctrinate anybody, we're not making people gay, we just want to make sure they're here to see tomorrow," said Xavier Saenz, founder of Delta Pride.
Greg and his partner were sitting among the crowd enjoying the colorful drag performances. Greg said that its nice to see the LGBTQ community represented on the Western Slope.
"We live in Montrose and to have something that's in Delta and also in Ridgeway, it's nice to know there's a gay community here on the Western Slope," he said.
Perhaps one of the best moments during the Sunday Pride parade in the park was the appearance of "Bubbles," a 40-foot mechanical puppet. The rainbow trout danced and led joyful marchers, dancers and celebrators around dozens of vendor’s booths.
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